Chapter Text
Beacon Academy for Huntsmen and Huntresses… not exactly a place Jaune expected to find himself in after what happened at his last mission. It did beg the question though, was he even qualified to be a Hunter? Not that he didn't have the strength or skill for it, he was just worried about… the circumstances that led him to being this strong in the first place. Like, he wasn't even—
"Next! Jaune Arc, please come up to counter 2B." one of the receptionists said, making him look up from his seat and towards the said counter. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a small breath.
Now or never, he supposed.
Walking towards counter 2B, he fished for his documents from his small sling bag and handed it towards the receptionist. He watched the receptionist, a man with black hair and red eyes, waiting for any sort of reaction to what was written in the document. It didn't come. Instead, the receptionist just hummed and nodded before looking up at him. "I see that you have some live combat experience against large hoards of Grimm. What missions did you typically go on with your father?"
Jaune blinked at that, not the question he expected to hear, but he supposed it was still appropriate. "Search and destroy alongside some fortifications."
The receptionist nodded, humming to himself, "Any experience with recon?"
"Some, though off the record." Jaune replied, wondering why he still hadn't mentioned anything about his biological information.
"I see. Of these official missions of what risk level were they usually in?" the receptionist asked, glancing at the papers again for a moment.
Jaune frowned at that, his father had told him not to talk about it, but he wasn't sure if that was going to be an option here… He didn't have time to call his father, so he decided to just give the truth, sighing. Well, this was a government school still, right? It's not like this was his biggest secret or something… As he was about to speak, however, the receptionist raised a hand, handing him a pen and a piece of paper.
"Private information, I understand. Just write it down in code." the receptionist said, making Jaune blink.
That was… odd.
Still, he nodded, writing it down as code on the piece of paper. Code, being shorthand for Hunter code, was made up of dots and dashes. Seeing as most of the other aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses here would likely be unfamiliar with it, it was the safest way to transfer information. Before he wrote it down, however, he decided to convert it to a Caesar cipher just in case. Then he transcribed it in code and wrote down the number of shifts in the bottom right corner of the paper—also in code. Couldn't hurt to be careful, after all.
The receptionist looked at it, and nodded, not even fazed. "I see. Thank you for your cooperation, Jaune Arc. You may now proceed to the Bullhead." he said, gesturing to the landing pads where the Bullheads were stationed at.
Jaune nodded, turning to walk towards the Bullhead. As he was walking away, however, he noticed that he still held a piece of paper in his hand. Surprised, he looked down at it and was about to go back to the receptionist to give it back, but then he looked at it's contents.
'Good luck, Jaune Arc. Your secret is safe with us.'
Jaune frowned, glancing back to the counter for a moment, but then seeing as the receptionist had already gone back to his job, he sighed and shook his head. So they did notice. He continued his walk towards the Bullhead, the odd-looking airship, deciding that he might as well just do his best to stay as… normal as possible, he supposed.
He knew they'd have noticed it eventually, they'd probably already known about it for a long time, even, but… to think that they wouldn't really care about it all that much… He just became confused.
He walked into the Bullhead, going inside and seeing all the other aspiring Hunters around his age, and decided to head towards one of the darker corners of the bullhead. If he could avoid it, he'd rather not be noticed too early. Not that there was anything to really reveal his secret just from looking at him, but he just didn't want to be the center of attention. It was against his nature, really.
The feeling awoke from inside him again, making him sigh and close his eyes as he did his best to suppress it. Suppress that abhorrently inhumane nature of his.
It would be bad too, if he were to ever unleash it, being inside a vehicle which held a large number of Hunters.
After all, he was the very thing they swore to destroy. A Grimm.
He opened his eyes again when they arrived at Beacon Academy, he watched as they all hurriedly went outside the Bullhead. He let out a small breath as he discreetly managed to insert himself in the horde of students going out, looking up when he managed to finally get out, hearing other people's gasps.
Some were even saying that this was better than what they've seen in those books. He didn't quite agree with that, but sure. He didn't take in the sights for too long, instead deciding to go towards the auditorium as soon as he could, at least, as soon as he could while walking there.
He only got to the fountain, before something already moved to slow him down. That is, a girl seemed to be on her way to breaking a large number of property owned by the SDC, and, since he was close enough to the scene already, he might as well help out in any way he can. He didn't want to be a prick after all, especially not to the white-haired heiress, Weiss Schnee, who was just over there, in her trademark white and red bolero jacket with the SDC logo in it.
As the red-cloaked girl continued to spin dizzily towards the large number of suitcases on the trolleys, he grabbed her shoulders and straightened her to stand up-right. As the girl was dizzily mumbling things to herself, he kept her standing still, her eyes starting to clear up again.
"E-Eh?" the girl with the red cloak and dark red hair looked at me with wide eyes, confused, looking back and forth to him and the suitcases behind her.
Her eyes… were silver. Why did that push his Grimm nature to the point of him being unable to control it? Regardless, he grit his teeth and let out a long breath, before smiling at her.
The feeling subsided. But still… what was it with her eyes that… scared him so?
"A-Ah!" the girl said, jumping away from his hold, with him letting her go, "S-Sorry! I really didn't mean it! I-I just, my sister was just here but then she left me in a cloud of dust so—" she said, starting to ramble.
Jaune frowned at this, raising a hand up, "Actually… you should be apologizing to her. You nearly destroyed a large amount of… well, her Dust." he said, pointing to Weiss who was staring at them both.
"Oh! Right, uh… Sorry again! I really didn't mean it, it's just that my sister was just there and then—" the girl started rambling again, and he heard Weiss audibly sigh, making the girl stop suddenly, "Oh… ah… sorry about that…" she said with an apologetic smile on her face.
Weiss nodded, "It's alright. I suppose I'll have to be glad that nothing bad happened. You're forgiven…" she started, giving the cloaked girl the cue to introduce herself.
Luckily, the girl was able to pick it up, "My name's Ruby! Ruby Rose!" the cloaked girl said happily, making Jaune smile for a moment.
Just a moment.
Weiss nodded again, "Right. Thank you for preventing a disaster from occuring, Jaune." she said, looking at him.
Jaune raised a brow, surprised that she somehow still remembers him. "Of course, Miss Schnee." he said, nearly bowing, before he stopped himself, "Ah—I mean: You're welcome, Weiss. Sorry, habits are just a bit…"
Weiss chuckles briefly, nodding, "I understand. Regardless, I have to go along, my Dust, as you put it, will have to be placed somewhere safer for everyone involved."
Jaune smiled at that, "Yeah. We'll see you later." he said, waving as she walked away, her luggage in tow.
He frowned a bit though, as he noticed something odd about her.
What had once been a very human Aura around her… had suddenly disappeared. Almost as though it was consumed by some darker Aura…
He'll have to see when he meets her again, he supposed.
He just hoped it wasn't what he thought it was, which was all too possible considering Jacques…
"So you two know each other?" Jaune blinked as he suddenly remembered that the red cloaked girl, Ruby, was still there.
He shrugged a bit. "In a way, yes. I worked for her once before."
"Ooh…" Ruby said in wonder, and he felt just a bit uncomfortable under her gaze, though he pushed that away.
She didn't know that he was a Grimm. He's still okay.
She looked around for a bit before turning to him with a sheepish face. It made him raise a brow.
"What is it?" he asked,
"Well… do you know where to go? Ehehe…" she said, nervously.
Jaune looked at her with a frown, before nodding. "Yes, follow me to the auditorium then." he said, walking ahead of her.
At least, he was about to before he realized he forgot something, so he turned to Ruby and smiled with a hand out to her.
"Oh, right. The name's Jaune. Jaune Arc." And so began his life in Beacon.
He just hoped that he doesn't fuck it up this time.
Weiss placed her suitcases into her locker and frowned as she realized just how much she'd brought with her.
If she were being practical here, she would barely even need four suitcases of Dust with her, and yet she'd brought enough to fill up her locker… Myrtenaster used up a fair bit of Dust, sure, but not enough to warrant her bringing all this Dust to Beacon.
… It's not because of that, is it?
She sighed to herself as she closed her eyes for a moment.
Right, she wasn't exactly human anymore, after all. She clenched her fists as she remembered just what they'd done to her. Just what they'd… Regardless of all that, would it truly matter if she was stronger than usual here?
It didn't really matter, did it? In a way it would probably be better for her… As long as she doesn't use that form.
She closed her locker and was about to go out of the locker rooms when she heard a voice from behind her.
"Oh! Hello again Weiss!" Ah, Pyrrha.
Weiss turned around and smiled at her, "Hello as well, Pyrrha. It seems you have gone to Beacon after all."
Pyrrha chuckled at this, walking towards her, "Yes. It was quite hard dealing with everyone, but at the very least they were all respectful. A nice change of pace from everything in Mistral."
Weiss nodded, "That is true, shall we head to the auditorium then?" she offered, and Pyrrha nodded, so they started to walk to the auditorium.
The walk was mostly silent, but eventually, Pyrrha said something, "You seem a bit different, Weiss."
Weiss twitched a bit at that, forcing herself to calm down. "Oh? And why's that?" it's not like Pyrrha would find out that easily anyways…
"You seem more… reserved. Did anything happen in the past year?" Pyrrha asked, and Weiss nearly paused again.
Weiss just gave a weak chuckle, "I suppose you can say that." That's all she left it at, and Pyrrha seemed content with it at least.
"I see. Well, have you met some new people here at least? Anyone interesting?" Pyrrha asked, and this time, Weiss blinked.
Well… now that she says that… "I actually have. His name is Jaune Arc. He's actually worked with us before, he and his father, I mean." Weiss said, furrowing her brows as she noticed the empty dark aura around him…
"Ah, the Arc and Schnee do go way back. What did you find interesting?" Pyrrha asked, making Weiss look at her for a moment, to which Pyrrha just smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, if you're not comfortable with answering that…" Weiss was actually more uncomfortable with the fact that Pyrrha was asking so many things, but she didn't say that out loud.
Instead, Weiss hummed, "Not that I'm uncomfortable with it, I simply feel as though it wouldn't be right for me to speak of what could very well be his secret." she said, telling a half-truth.
She did know one thing about Jaune, he was unnaturally strong, and if the aura around him was indicative enough, then he was also similar to her.
Grimm. Or, as they'd called it, a Grimm hybrid.
It was only odd how he didn't seem to give much of any reaction to her… he didn't know about it, did he?
Or perhaps he was also…
"Ah. I'm sorry for asking then." Pyrrha said as they arrived at the auditorium.
They stayed around the back, though Weiss did manage to catch where Jaune was. When she looked at him, however, he immediately turned to face her.
She continued to stare at him, and he continued to do so as well.
Eventually, they broke eye contact when the headmaster started to speak.
"I'll keep this brief." Headmaster Ozpin started, immediately silencing everyone in the room. "Many of you have traveled here today in search of… different things. Some, for knowledge, some others, for strength and power, some others, to follow their dreams, and even some, to find a new beginning." he started, and Weiss felt his gaze on her when he said that last part, it made her frown. "Regardless of what you aim for, you all think you'd find it here. And on that, I cannot assure you of. You all have your own assumptions on what you need to attain such goals… you'll also find that many of you are wrong. And when that time comes… it will be up to you to take the first step."
That was all the Headmaster said, before leaving the auditorium and letting Glynda, the assistant, takeover.
The crowd of aspiring students were left more silent than they had before, Weiss could also notice that some of the few upper years were surprised. As though, Ozpin had never spoken those words before…
Before she and the others could think more on this however, Glynda spoke up.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." with those words, the students all started to disperse, some talking with each other about how odd the Headmaster was.
She didn't care for it, but she did notice how Ruby, Jaune and the blonde girl who could only be assumed to be Ruby's sister walking towards her and Pyrrha.
Weiss blinked, "Yes?" she asked, wondering what they could want from her.
Ruby smiled, waving at her and Pyrrha, "Hey Weiss! I just wanted you to meet my sister, Yang!" she said, presenting the blonde girl with her arms.
"Nice to meet ya' Weiss! Name's Yang Xiao Long! The hottest girl in town, literally!" Yang said, introducing herself with a grin while holding a hand out.
Weiss shook Yang's hand, "Nice to meet you, Yang." Weiss said, realizing that she probably should have let Yang take the lead in their shaking of hands when she saw her widened eyes. Regardless, she introduced Pyrrha as well, out of courtesy. "I suppose you've seen her already, but this is Pyrrha Nikos. I've met her in the few times I've been in Mistral."
"Hello!" Pyrrha waved at them with a smile.
"This is Ruby Rose—" Weiss said, pointing to Ruby,
"Hi!" Ruby waved enthusiastically,
"And this is Jaune Arc." Weiss said, pointing to Jaune,
"Nice to meet you, Pyrrha." Jaune said, nodding, before turning to look at the growing crowd around them—specifically, around Pyrrha. Something which Weiss noticed, "Guess we'll have to get out of here…" he muttered, and Weiss nodded.
"Let's go." Weiss said, glaring at the crowd which made them back away.
When they got out of the auditorium, they started to go their separate ways.
"Ruby and I are going to prepare our bedrolls, so see ya guys later!" Yang said, waving at Weiss and the others before pulling Ruby with her.
Weiss then looked to Pyrrha who hummed to herself before nodding. "I suppose I'll have to do that as well. How about you, Weiss, Jaune?"
Weiss frowned and looked over to Jaune, who had a frown on his face as well, "I'll do it later." then he looked to Weiss.
She narrowed her eyes before she turned to Pyrrha, "I have a few things I need to check up on, so I'll have to do it later."
Pyrrha frowned, but nodded at that, looking between her and Jaune, "Very well, I'll see the two of you later." Weiss nodded as Pyrrha walked away.
And with that, Weiss and Jaune were the only two standing outside the auditorium.
"So you wanted to speak with me, Weiss?" Jaune said, straight to the point as ever.
Weiss nodded, "Yes. I just have a few questions."
Jaune seemed to sigh at that, making her turn to him with a glare. He just smiled, "It was your mother, wasn't it?"
All at once, she froze, eyes widening at his words. "H-How?!"
Jaune sighed and shrugged, "She was the one who hired us. But…" he looked around, and muttered to himself, "We should probably go to a less crowded area."
Weiss frowned at that before nodding her head. "Alright." she said, following him as they went somewhere in Beacon.
She was about to ask if he even knew the way around here, but considering that he follows his father whenever he takes missions… he'd have been bound to come here at some point.
She didn't expect him to continue speaking as they were walking though, "As I said, she was the one who hired us, but she had also been checking up on me for a long time."
"Oh? That's…" disgusting, she wanted to say, but then again her mother wasn't exactly the sanest out there. Sadly she found that out far too late. Whitley wasn't kidding…
"Yeah. I couldn't really do anything against it either. Neither could my father, since we had no evidence against her." Jaune said, grimacing. "It was a pretty horrible experience, as you would already know."
Weiss knew. She'd been turned into a hybrid in just a month after all... "... Yeah. I'm sorry."
"It's not like you knew, or could have done anything." Jaune replied.
"Right." Weiss replied, frowning to herself. They passed by the courtyard where there were a number of people just lounging around and exploring the Academy. It was rather peaceful, she noted. Eventually, the two of them found a small table in the garden with two chairs in it. Just a few paces away from the gazebo.
"Let's sit here." Jaune said, and they sat down. "So, what were your questions?" he asked, as she looked down at her hands in her table.
Eventually, Weiss looked up, "What do you mean by being checked up on? Were you another hybrid?"
"Yes. But not made by your mother. Someone related to her, however." Jaune said,
"Who? A Schnee?" Weiss asked, unsure of the identities of any possible bastards her grandfather had.
"No. Geshal." Jaune said,
"But they're dead." Weiss said, furrowing her brows.
"Yes." Jaune nodded, "All but Merlot."
"Mountain Glenn didn't kill him?" Weiss asked, raising a brow and Jaune scoffed.
"With a guy as insane as him? No, it wouldn't have been enough. He'd planned for the fall, actually." Jaune said, sounding almost bitter,
"What?!" Weiss said, eyes widening as she stood up for a moment. Jaune just shook his head, as though he didn't want to talk about it, she respected it and sat back down. "So, what's the difference between us?
"I'm not really sure, as we're both hybrids technically. Your mother must have improved some things for you. Although, judging from how you still have free will…" Jaune muttered,
"That sequence simply failed. Dr. Polendina also had a help with making sure that nothing went wrong." Weiss said,
"I see…" Jaune nodded, "As for me, I just had to physically remove the chip from my body."
"Oh." Weiss blinked, "I see." she didn't even bother to ask more about it. She didn't want to think about it. "Well then, why did you come to Beacon? Couldn't you just get a Hunter's License yourself through all the missions you've done with your father? Why go here?"
Jaune laughed at that, scratching the back of his head, "Yeah, I could, but… my dad didn't really give me much of a choice."
"Oh?" Weiss raised a brow.
"He forced me to go here. Told me how I needed to make friends my age and all that. Also said I needed to be in some place more 'normal' for me." Jaune said, chuckling,
"That's nice of your father." Weiss said, smiling.
"Yeah, it is." Jaune smiled, before he frowned at her, "So how about you?" he asked, curious.
"Well, after the whole event with my mother and me becoming… this, I decided that I wanted to at least pursue my dream and to use this power for something good." Weiss said, looking up at the sky, noticing how it was starting to become noon, "The only question I have now is how long this will last."
"Why Beacon and not Atlas?" Jaune asked, making her look at him,
"Why Beacon and not Haven?" Weiss asked in turn, smiling.
"Touchè." Jaune smiled in turn.
Weiss chuckled, "Well, I chose Beacon for one reason only…"
"Oh?" Jaune said, raising a brow,
"In the moments before my mother was imprisoned, she kept cursing one name, and one name only." Weiss smiled,
And, to be honest, she was also quite surprised to learn about this, but when she did, she knew that she had to go to Beacon immediately.
"Ozpin."